Christmas 2008

Brody loves his puzzle, but Jacob wants to know what is in the rest of those packages! Jacob hanging out with Grandpa:

Noah and Aaron: Ever since Mason was born, Noah LOVES to snuggle with Aaron and I, it is SO stinkin' cute!

Jacob and cousin Noah tearing the gifts open:

Uncle Mark and Jacob hanging out:

Sweet little baby Mason, loving his thumb!:

The boys and their loot:

Aw, my boys:

Jacob's first present:

Some outdoor time:

Brody LOVES the outdoors as much as Jacob!:

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! I spent much of the holiday consumed with thoughts of Emilie and her family and it certainly made me hug my little ones more than normal. The weather here has been crazy lately. The beginning of last week started out blizzard-like, continuing on to Christmas Eve where we celebrated with Jason, Janet and Jack. We ate tons of good food and had fun just hanging out and watching the kids play (Jack and Jacob play great together, it's really cute to watch). Thank goodness Aaron's truck didn't sell, because we certainly wouldn't have made it into their neighborhood or our street without it - it was insane! Christmas morning went fabulous. Jacob was so cute about opening his presents - he would tear off a piece and then hand it to one of us to throw away until the package was completely opened. He was also great about only opening his gifts and not Brody's - it was so sweet. To say he loved all of his gifts would be an understatement! Brody wasn't able to open his gifts all by himself, but he did a good job of tearing a piece off (but then would be distracted and just want to eat the paper he just tore off). We packed up quickly while the boys played with their new toys and made way to my parents. There we had a fabulous dinner and MORE presents that Jacob and Noah LOVED. Aaron got Wii Fit for Christmas, so much of our evening was spent playing this cruel, insulting game. (It tells you your weight, bmi and your age based on balance/fitness - not nice! Especially on Christmas when we are indulging on delicious foods and sweets!). The boys were both pretty wired from all the recent events and had lots of trouble falling asleep, so it was a bit of a rough night but totally worth it. Friday we then headed over to Aaron's parents house to celebrate Christmas there and the boys were spoiled yet again! Aaron and I both received cash from Aaron's parents for Christmas, which we are putting towards a new washing machine - I'm so excited! I'm sure Aaron isn't too thrilled, but he did get his wii fit balance board for Christmas so he's not complaining! Saturday morning we woke up to warm temps, rain and fog and made our way home. That evening it rained cats and dogs, turned to snow and ice and the wind nearly blew the house over... I still have NO idea how we didn't lose our power that night. I guess it is a good thing that it rained instead of snowed though, because if it had been cold enough we would have been buried in snow. Crystal Mountain (10 miles from our house) reports that we have received 99 inches of snow so far, although with all the warm ups there isn't much left on the ground right now (it is still snow covered though). What a winter (so far)! So now everything is back to normal and we are all kind of feeling the post holiday blues. The boys expect to get presents at every house we visit, we've officially outgrown our house with all these toys and yet I'm going to fight Aaron to keep the tree up for longer. Fun stuff. So what else... Aaron works New Years Eve until 4pm and after that we have no plans... not sure if we will end up doing anything. I'll shamefully admit that I don't think we even stayed up past midnight last year (although I can't remember what we did at the moment...).

Oh, also Brody turned 9 months old on the 26th. His 9 month well baby visit is on Jan. 5th, I believe. He is getting around pretty good, but still not on hands and knees yet. I think it will be any day...

Oh, also, Julie asked about my skin infections the other day... At the beginning of this month I got in to see a dermatologist and we came up with a game plan. First off he was completely shocked that not one, but two doctors failed to do a culture on my initial infection (as was my family doctor and our pediatrician). He and my family doctor agreed to put me on an oral antibiotic (Bactrim) for a month and then a nasal one for 2 wks. He said if I get another infection, then I need to be seen ASAP for a culture and drain and if he is closed then to go to the ER. He also said that at that point the next course of action would be taking two antibiotics simultaneously which would also mean I would have to discontinue breastfeeding (because of the antibiotics he has in mind). I've recently finished up the antibiotics and my skin is looking good, let's hope it stays that way! Holy cow is it painful!